Ex-DEA Heads: Feds Should Nullify State Pot Laws

CHICAGO (AP) - Eight former Drug Enforcement Administration chiefs say the clock is ticking and the federal government needs to act now to nullify Colorado and Washington's laws legalizing recreational marijuana use.

The onetime DEA heads are issuing joint statements Tuesday saying the Obama administration has reacted too slowly and should immediately sue to force the states to rescind the legislation.

The Associated Press received an advanced copy of the statement Monday.

The two states are pushing ahead to implement their laws. One of the former DEA administrators, Peter Bensinger, says the more time goes by, the harder it will be to stop them. Marijuana is illegal under federal law.

Bensinger, a Chicago-area resident, says not acting forthrightly to sue the states might create "a domino effect" in which other states follow suit.